A night of Latin music in London

On the stage there is a mowhawk-sporting guitar-swinging Argentinean, a Peruvian Jim Morrison that plays a classical guitar as if it were a bass, a tiny Bolivian girl blowing on the panpipes and a Spanish islander beating away at the cajón (box shaped percussion instrument).

The argentine wails about being crazy while the earthy sounds of the panpipes fuse with the dry beats of the cajón. Though one wouldn´t think it at first, this uncommon mix has a certain punk sensibility that makes it work.

This is Fox and the Pachamamas, the last band to play in Movimientos, a night dedicated to Latin American music whilst breaking with the typical stereotypes.

"The reason we started the night was to project a different idea and a different image of Latin America, of the music, of the culture" says Callum Simpson, founder and organizer of the night.

"We programme in a diverse way, not just tango, salsa or reggaeton. We love to incorporate all those elements. We want to incorporate things like reggae and Andean music and more indigenous afro Latin music. Stuff that perhaps people are less aware of in the west", adds Callum.

The sounds you hear throughout the night are varied. The first band to play, Beat:Root, is a funk and soul band from London.

They are followed by Mariano Godoy, a prominent Argentinean/Venezuelan rock/pop guitarist. In 2007 he played in Stereophonics' drummer Javier Weyler's solo project Capitan Melao.

The third band to hit the stage are Sufira, finalists of the Glastonbury 2008 new talent competition. They are a modern fusion take on flamenco where instruments that are not normally associated with this style: the double bass and the melodic percussion instrument, the hang drum, are combined with more traditional drums and guitar.

But surprisingly for a night that is dedicated to Latin American music, many of the bands that are playing are British.

"I think the idea is to promote Latin artists alongside English artists or European artists that are making Latin music," says Callum, who adds that having artists from different backgrounds is a way of reaching out to people from different backgrounds. This fits inside a larger political vision behind Movimientos.

It started off four years ago as a documentary and DJ night, which is still going on in The Salmon and Compass in Islington. The idea: to attract people to the activism and documentaries though the music and to attract people through to the music through the activism.

And looking at the images that are projected on the walls of the Notting Hill arts Club, venue for this night's concert, the activist streak becomes apparent. Alongside the images of urban landscapes, virgins and Mayan pyramids, we see the masked faces of Zapatistas (Mexican rebels).

But Callum is clear that he does not want to be dogmatic: "Part of the whole reason we started it was because a lot of the movements on the left and social activism were very insular in the way they did not try to reach out to other people... I think you need to reach out to other people and not being explicitly political."

In the eyes of the artists, whose music does not particularly have a political message, the most important thing about the night is the space it provides for new talent. A space that is not readily available in London for Latin music.

Dorian Needs from Pura Mescla, who will be playing at the end of the month in Movimientos, says that there are no other nights like it, in the way that it brings different kinds of listeners together.

Dorian adds that there are other promoters of Latin music but none that "support young growing fresh talent good musicians before they hit global acclaim".

Carlos Saldaña "Kantikena", guitarist of Fox and the Pachamamas believes that it is hard to get concerts in London because they are not properly promoted.

"[When there is little public] the managers say that there is no public because of us," says Kantikana who adds that he is sure that there public for Latin music because of the reception he has had in a range of important festivals such s the South Bank Festival, Glastonbury and Edinburgh.

Rosalida Moreno-Parra, singer of Sufira, agrees that there is a market for Latin and Spansih music: "We were in the Glastonbury new talent competition last year. They said they were really looking Spanish and South American influenced music."

As Fox and the Pachamamas leave the stage a Latin Dub Soundsystem DJ set kicks off. Slowly, musicians from different bands that have played throughout the night pick up their instruments and accompany the songs the DJ is spinning. Drew Salidas from Beat:Root picks up his flute, Kantikana his quena and Phaxsh Coca, from the Pachamamas, her panpipes.

This is Latin American music, but unlike anything else you've heard in London.